Low Cost Solution Based on Software Defined Radio for the RF Exposure Assessment: A Performance Analysis

The paper investigates the possibility of using Software Defined Radio (SDR) platforms in assessing exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by sources specific to 3G and 4G generations. Critical parameters of SDR platforms that can limit their performance are the sampling frequency and the receiving resolution of the analog to digital converter (ADC). The performed tests showed that the 8-bit ADC resolution has an influence on the amplitude’s dynamic range, i.e. when evaluating exposure to high-level signals (greater than -40 dBm), the accuracy is consistently diminished. The sampling frequency influences the bandwidth of the channel, and broadband signals (e.g. 20 MHz – in case of 4G) impose requirements for the performance of the SDR platform. For an average-priced SDR platform, such as HackRF One, measurements can be conducted with an acceptable accuracy at most on 5 MHz bandwidths.